Columns

The complainant, Jon Melanson, thought the wording of a headline indicated CBC was taking the side of the Liberal party. CBC's ombudsman Esther Enkin responds that while it may have not been the most elegant headline ever written, it was not inaccurate and the story was balanced.

If done well, a photo caption can elevate the story, writes the Globe and Mail's public editor Sylvia Stead. A bad cutline, by contrast, will tell the reader something that they can figure out on their own.

For all the attention to who generates the greatest number of references, perhaps the most important question is not about whether the coverage is equal but whether it fairly explains each party’s platform, writes The Globe and Mail's public editor Sylvia Stead.

The Ontario Press Council was exercising its right and responsibility in holding the Toronto Star to account for its reporting on Mayor Rob Ford “crack” video, writes the newspaper's public editor Kathy English.

It is certainly not ideal to have been talking about a tape that no CBC reporter had seen, but given the high profile of the people involved, and how the story evolved, the decision to stay with the story was a correct one, writes CBC's Ombudsman Esther Enkin.

Journalists are fed up with canned talking points in response to questions, but are they better than nothing? Should journalists push more for phone interviews? Take the J-Source poll and tell us what you think of emailed statements.

The Globe and Mail defended its use of anonymous sources for an investigative piece by Greg McArthur and Shannon Kari that looked into Mayor Rob Ford’s family's alleged drug dealings. The Toronto Star responded to complaints about an article the newspaper ran about a video that allegedly showed Ford smoking crack. That article was written by city hall reporter Robyn Doolittle and investigative reporter Kevin Donovan.

The Globe and Mail's public editor explains to readers what they can expect from the Ontario press council hearings next week and why she defends the use of anonymous sources in the story at the root of the complaint.

J-Source/ProjetJ is a publication of the Canadian Journalism Project, a venture led by the journalism programs at Ryerson University and Carleton University and supported by the post-secondary journalism programs at member institutions of J- Schools Canada/EcolesJ (j-schoolscanada.ca) as well as by a group of donors.